Erin? Erin Sackett? Yup, that would be me. Present and reporting for duty. What can I do for you? Would you like help with that sketch? No? Ah, well, I'll leave you be. Unless - Oh! You'd like to ask me some questions? Sure thing, I love questions! Where to start? "Describe myself..." Well, let's see. I suppose I'm...
BOYFRIEND: Ambitious. Creative. Perfect.
FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY MENTOR: She's got the guts to do what it takes to make it in the photography field, and she's charming enough to squirrel her way above all the others to boot.
GRANDMOTHERLY MISSIONARY: I only met her twice. There's no real junk food in Malawi, so I shared a bag of potato chips with her. The next day she got her very own bag, and I got one of the most grateful hugs I've had in years.
LOCAL LIBRARIAN: Her mama's rule is that she can only get as many books as she can carry. A charmingly bashful girl, she was. One time she had too many books and no one else, so she got real red and asked me all cute like if she could have help carrying the books to the car. I helped of course, and looking down on those books, what did I see but about three hard bound taxidermy books in a row, right under her big toothy grin. I never did look at that red bow for quite some time without wondering about that smile.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ART TEACHER: Charmingly stupid.
MIDDLE SCHOOL ART TEACHER: Charmingly strange.
HIGH SCHOOL ART TEACHER: Repulsively out of the box. I had to kick her out of the class.
KIM: Very thoughtful! Often throws away other kids' litter.
KATHY: Forgetful. Also eats too much of the chocolate we give out, then comes back and has to sit out 3 periods in order to not throw up.
CHILDHOOD COGNITIVE THERAPIST: She's too constricted. She needs to let go more.
BELOVED DOG: She speaks to me often, for she knows that her voice is my world's sweetest music. This she must know by the wild struggles or my tail and the soft fingers on my waiting ruff. She oh-so-carefully tends me, picking each and every slug, worm, or bit of excretement from my smiling mouth. Because of this, I know she loves me.
MATH INSTRUCTOR: She comes in everyday at lunch to improve. Despite her efforts, she often doesn't do well - but then, she's as stubborn as pitch. She always pulls through eventually, no matter the cost.
MATH TUTOR: Tries fairly hard. But I'm pretty sure it's not out of a burning love for math though. She's always eager to please. If it would make someone else happy that she had a 3.5 GPA, she'd gladly go get it.
PAPA: You could write a book from the questions she has.
MAMA: She's got enough Italian in her to replenish Sicily, and enough Sackett to be determined to stay that way.
BIBLICAL ELDER SISTER: A heathen in every sense.
FAVORITE PEARL ERASER: If you think I’m in bad shape, take a look at her poor parents.
ENGLISH TEACHER OF TYMES GONE BY: An apparently large fan of loopholes in both spelling tests and irony.
CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND: Firmly believed that she was going to grow up into a border collie until third grade. Prepared herself by wearing a real dog collar and by scuttling around on the floor.
CROSS COUNTRY COACH: She cheers and wishes someone luck whenever someone passes her. By the end she's always beaming - probably because she's always last. She's obviously quite… lucky.
HAIRDRESSER: Well she said she’s goin’ to Rhode Island for sum’ fancy schoolin’ in art during the summer. So I says “It’s gonna be a hot one!” And she laughed and then scrunched up her face really funny like and then she said….
EX-BOYFRIEND'S GRANDFATHER: A tough as nails. When Trenten died, she just kept on living. Named her dog after him 'n me though, she did. Calls me Grandpa.
…I suppose I'm just rather simple, really. I’ve still got an awful long way to go, but I’m getting there. And not a thing can slow me down.